


Little Luxuries

by Rumpeltyltskyn



Category: z nation
Genre: Bathing, Confessions, Fluff, M/M, Pining, Skeezy’s got it bad, Suggestive Themes, Swimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-16
Updated: 2018-03-16
Packaged: 2019-03-31 23:59:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13986084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumpeltyltskyn/pseuds/Rumpeltyltskyn
Summary: Not much lasts during the apocalypse, especially not barber shops.  After being driven from their last questionable business venture, Sketchy and Skeezy stop for the night by a river, and one of them suggests a swim.





	Little Luxuries

**Author's Note:**

> While I’ve shipped Sketchy and Skeezy for a while, Frenemies really got me going, and this little fic wouldn’t leave me alone. But, I’ve never written these two before, and they’re hell to keep in character! I hope I did them justice, enjoy~

They probably should have known that the whole barber-shop thing couldn’t last very long. Nice things like local businesses weren’t very much an option during the apocalypse, especially not eight years in with unkillable Zs popping up and survivors getting more and more desperate by the day. It was always a good idea to keep moving- that of all things wasn’t going to change.

But, still, Skeezy had expected it to last at least more than a week. He and Sketchy didn’t even make it six days at Curl Up & Dye before they were run out by someone who realized they were being scammed. Hardly enough time to get a dog or- well, anything else Skeezy might’ve had in mind. Up against a very angry, full-fledged zompocalypse biker gang, Sketchy and Skeezy had barely made it out alive, with only the clothes on their backs, the supplies in their bug-out bags, and a few odd things shoved into their pockets.

At least the woods they were driven into were relatively zombie-free.

Of course, that was probably because they were pretty much free of everything else, besides trees.

An arm whacked across Skeezy’s chest, hard enough to jerk him in a panic out of his thoughts. He almost reached for the knife tucked in his belt before he realized it was just Sketchy, stopping him in his tracks. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“You hear that?” Sketchy dropped his hand, scanning the trees ahead of them.

Skeezy’s eyes widened slightly with worry and he focused on the sounds around them. He relaxed when he heard it, a distinct rushing sound not too far in the distance. A grin spread across his face. “Water?”

They quickened their pace in the direction of the noise, soon finding themselves within view of a wide river. They looked quickly up and down the banks, assuring they were alone before dropping their guard. Skeezy laughed. “Nice!”

Sketchy rubbed his hands together with a smirk. “‘Bout time we caught a break. This’ll be a good spot for us to set up camp for the night. We can start up a fire, boil some water,” he said, letting his bag fall off his shoulder.

Skeezy hesitated a moment, considering something. “You think the water’s clean enough here to drink, Sketch?” he asked.

“Definitely! You see how clear that is? You can see all the way to the bottom,” Sketchy assured flippantly. “Besides, there hasn’t been a Z in sight for days, we’d see signs if there were any floaters.”

Skeezy nodded quickly in acknowledgement, dropping his bag by a boulder. He glanced out across the water before a somewhat excited grin crossed his face. “Hey, I got an idea,” he started. Sketchy raised a curious brow in his direction as Skeezy started kicking off his shoes. “Wanna go for a swim? It’s been, what, a week since we’ve bathed?”

“Hey, you got the right idea there, Vernon,” Sketchy said, chuckling and pulling his shirt off over his head. “We’ve got a few hours of daylight, don’t see why we can’t catch a quick dip.”

They both began stripping down, Skeezy tossing his shirt aside and Sketchy unbuckling his belt. Skeezy dug around in his pockets, pulling out a slightly-discolored sliver of ivory soap. “Hey, Sketch!” he called, catching his partner’s attention and tossing the soap in his direction. He caught it out of the air, his expression mildly surprised. “Snagged that from the shop on our way out,” he explained, offering him a quick wink.

Sketchy smiled, a rare, honest smile that not many had the chance to witness— and may or may not make Skeezy’s heart skip a beat when it showed up. It was gone as quickly as it came, though, covered up by his usual smirk. “Ah, you know me so well! Not much of this around these days, probably worth its weight in gold,” he said, tossing it up in the air once and catching it.

Skeezy gave him an amused look. “Gold’s not worth much these days, though,” he pointed out.

Sketchy shrugged. “Quite true,” he admitted, “But it’s still a nice luxury, one I sorely miss, believe it or not.”

“That’s why I grabbed it for you,” Skeezy said, admittedly feeling just a bit smug. He had nearly gotten killed, actually, taking an extra few seconds to shove everything he could think of in his pockets; luckily, people were a little less trigger-happy now that Mad Zs were a problem.

Sketchy stepped over to him, still half undressed, leaning in to place a kiss on Skeezy’s cheek that made him freeze up. He could feel Skeezy’s smirk against his skin, as well as the few-days growth from where he had shaved off the rest of his beard. A hand curled around Skeezy’s, pressing something small and metal into his palm. Lips brushed over his ear and Skeezy swallowed hard. “Make sure you get the lighter somewhere safe,” Sketchy whispered, folding Skeezy’s fingers around the lighter in his hand before pulling away. Skeezy nodded quickly, ignoring the fact his heart was pounding against his ribs again.

Right, of course. Just a ruse. Fire could mean life or death out here; it was just a distraction so any possible prying eyes didn’t see their lighter. Obviously.

Skeezy turned away, crouching down to move his shoes over next to his bag, covertly slipping the object into one of the toes. He stood, tossing his clothes in a pile on his shoes as he finished undressing. Turning back around, he offered his partner a broad smile before they both ran into the water, clad in nothing but their boxers.

They both dove into the deeper part of the river, quickly resurfacing and shaking the water from their eyes. Skeezy stood, the water coming up to near his waist. Leaning down, he dunked his head and scrubbed at the roots of his hair, splashing his face. He spared a glance at Sketchy, finding him lathering his arms and chest with the soap. Rinsing the suds off his skin, Sketchy met Skeezy’s gaze, flashing him a mischievous grin that left Skeezy pondering his next move.

“Hey, Skeez,” he said, starting towards him. “There’s enough soap here for the both of us,” he said, holding out the bar. “And you definitely need it as much as I do.”

Skeezy shrugged, dipping his head a bit in embarrassment at Sketchy’s teasing. He put out his hand expectantly as Sketchy approached, but instead of handing him the soap he found Sketchy curling a hand around his wrist. Skeezy watched in surprise as Sketchy began lathering up his arm. A nervous laugh escaped Skeezy and he pulled back slightly, causing Sketchy to raise a brow, his grin broadening.

“Um- I’m... ticklish,” Skeezy said, feeling heat creep up his neck to his face. 

“I know,” Sketchy said, eyes glinting with amusement. He kept going, moving on to wash Skeezy’s chest. As Sketchy’s hands moved over his ribs, Skeezy chewed on the inside of his cheek. Of course now he was thinking of the kiss— the one Sketchy had conveniently forgotten to mention as part of his plan— when Sketchy had replied with the same, ‘I know,’ to Skeezy’s ‘I love you.’

“So- uh-“ Skeezy started, clearing his throat, “Where to next?” he asked, looking down and watching his friend’s hands carefully.

“After a good nights sleep, we’ll head up river,” Sketchy said, sounding a bit distracted. “I hear there’s a small town up that way with an abandoned junk yard. Might be a good place to build up some new supplies.”

Skeezy beamed excitedly at the prospect. “Oh yeah! Sounds like a plan!” However, his face fell in surprise as Sketchy continued washing him, slipping his hand around Skeezy’s waist to rub the bar of soap up and down his back. In doing so, he managed to pull Skeezy in even closer.

Their faces and bodies were inches apart and Sketchy’s smirk turned playful, making Skeezy’s blood rush in his ears. “In the mean time,” he started, “We’ve been walking for two days, I think we deserve a chance to... relax,” he said, resting his free hand by Skeezy’s waistband.

Skeezy let out another nervous laugh, grabbing Sketchy’s hand at the wrist as he started to inch down the waistband of his briefs. “Hey- um- what’re you doing-“ he stuttered in surprise. 

Sketchy’s gave him a questioning look. “It’s not like we haven’t messed around before,” he said silkily, leaning in a bit closer to his partner.

“I-I know, but-“ he started, but hesitated, biting his tongue at the words that wanted to come. It was just fun for Sketchy, a casual encounter between the partners that didn’t mean anything— to Sketchy, at least.

“Hm, decided you don’t like guys after all?” Sketchy asked, pulling back just a bit.

“What? No, it’s not that,” Skeezy assured quickly. “It’s just-” Sketchy watched him expectantly, and Skeezy sighed. “I know it doesn’t mean anything to you.”

Sketchy tilted his head slightly at that. “What doesn’t?”

“Y’know, the making out, the sex,” he explained, gesturing between the two of them.

Sketchy’s expression turned curious. “Do you want it to?”

Skeezy chewed his bottom lip for a moment as he considered his answer. “Well... yeah,” he finally replied. “I, meant what I said, when you kissed me at the barber shop,” he said, chuckling self-consciously.

A moment of silence fell between them before the grin came back to Sketchy’s face, the familiar mischievous glint in his eyes returning. “Oh, Vernon, you’re _in love_ with me,” he said, pulling Skeezy back in by the arm hooked around his waist.

Skeezy didn’t respond at first, just smiled sheepishly. While there was a bit of relief at Sketchy’s positive reaction, he still felt overwhelmed, and a bit confused, his head spinning slightly at the situation. “So does this mean that you-“

His question was interrupted by a finger to his lips. Sketchy shushed him, waggling the finger at him before pulling it away to press a kiss to his lips. It was definitely better than their last one, more real and less stiff, and Skeezy melted into it immediately, wrapping his arms around his partner’s neck.

The kiss ended too soon in Skeezy’s opinion, with Sketchy pulling back and flashing him a grin. “Hold your breath.”

“Huh-“ Skeezy started in confusion, still dazed from the kiss. Then he was shoved off his feet, falling backwards in the water. He came up sputtering, and Sketchy grabbed his arm, helping to haul him to his feet. “What was that for!?”

“You were all covered in soap,” Sketchy said pointedly, as if it was obvious.

Skeezy just shrugged, tilting his head and smacking at an ear in attempt to drain the water from it. After a moments hesitation, he reached out and gave Sketchy a hard shove, sending him sprawling into the water as well. Skeezy doubled over with laughter, barely managing to compose himself enough to help Sketchy back to his feet.

After wiping water from his eyes, Sketchy grinned. “I probably deserved that.” Skeezy could only nod through his giggles. Sketchy wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him in next to him and starting out of the water. “C’mon, let’s dry off and get that fire going,” he said, offering his partner a wink. Skeezy leaned into him, feeling more at ease than he had in a week, and Sketchy let his hand drift softly across his cheek. Oh, he didn’t have to say anything. Skeezy knew.

**Author's Note:**

> Sketchy is not good with feelings.


End file.
